FreeTime Parental Controls Not Available on Fire TV Stick

The Fire TV Stick released later this week will not have access to FreeTime, Amazon’s granular parental control options available on the Fire TV. FreeTime allows parents to create individual profiles for each child and control precisely which apps and videos the child may use. The feature also grants access to Amazon’s curated subscription service of kid-safe content, FreeTime Unlimited. It was understandable that international Fire TVs exclude FreeTime due to content licensing issues, but it’s surprising the feature is excluded from the US-only Fire TV Stick.

The Fire TV Stick does have basic parental controls which can prevent access to Games & Apps, Photos, and Music as a whole. However it lacks the granular features of FreeTime which can control access down to individual apps and videos. I’ve reached out to Amazon asking if a future update will bring FreeTime to the Fire TV Stick but have received no response.